Agents bust giant drugmaking lab in Taoyuan County

OFF THE RAILS Police said the group transported around 100kg a month, using the High Speed Rail to deliver amphetamine and ketamine to pushers

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA

Agents from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau raided an underground drug factory in Taoyuan County late on Monday night and seized NT$20 million in illicit drugs, a spokesman for the bureau said yesterday.

Chung Da-chen, director of the bureau’s Southern Region Mobile Unit, told a press conference that his unit received tips three months ago that a villa near the Taoyuan station of the High Speed Rail housed an illicit drug factory.

Chung said that agents from his unit and the bureau’s Taoyuan office kept the villa under surveillance and waited for the right moment on Monday to raid the property.

They seized 20kg of amphetamine and ketamine, along with raw materials and equipment for producing the drugs.

The investigators arrested three suspects, including one identified as Lin Kun-ming (林昆明), who had his wedding photos taken that morning.

Chung said that Lin, who is scheduled to get married in June, may have to “postpone his wedding indefinitely.”

The three suspects learned how to produce amphetamine and ketamine from the Internet and used the high-speed rail to deliver their goods to drug pushers in cities and townships all over Taiwan, Taoyuan-based investigators said.

They said that the drug ring’s sales totaled about 100kg per month, and that most of the drugs were supplied to youngsters at large-scale concerts and rave parties.

The suspects will be referred to the Taoyuan District Public Prosecutors’ Office to face charges of violating the Narcotics Endangerment Prevention Act, investigators said.